The Gladiator Beast deck was stolen.
It happened suddenly. On the very day Kira heard about it, the incident occurred: Industrial Illusions' European branch was attacked, and an unknown duelist took the deck.
But that's not exactly accurate—the "deck" didn't exist yet. What I.I. unearthed were only stone tablets; the deck still needed development.
Yet intel from over there insisted the thief took an actual deck.
There's only one explanation.
He released the tablets' power on site and hand-crafted the deck himself.
That's not impossible. Converting tablets into cards via R&D is just the most common method. But in this world, some people—those strong enough—don't need tech, research, or even understanding the principles. If the vibe is right, they can hand-sculpt a deck on the spot.
Such examples abound across every Yu-Gi-Oh era, typically among those top-tier, "plot-armored" monsters of duelists. Legend says top alchemists can turn stone into gold—but at least they need a stone. These plot monsters need nothing; they can conjure new cards from thin air. Completely unreasonable.
If the culprit's power is high enough, hand-crafting a Gladiator Beast deck is plausible.
Yako flew to Europe that night. Mokuba wanted to go too, but with his brother away he already had mountains of company work, and figured he wouldn't be of much use there anyway. So he stayed, and sent Kira to take a look.
…
Early the next morning, they visited the professor who'd been on-site.
Tilla Mook was alive—barely. Her expression was vacant, and her beautiful blond hair had turned snow-white overnight. Pure, without a trace of other color.
"Too strong…"
"That guy… that deck called Gladiator Beasts—it's beyond ordinary strength…"
When Yako and Kira entered, Tilla Mook slowly raised her head and spoke, dazed.
"He said he was only testing the deck, verifying his own power—otherwise he wouldn't even deign to duel me… Now I believe him. He was telling the truth. We're not even in the same dimension.
"I think that's why he spared me. He left me alive… to deliver a message."
"For whom?" Yako asked.
Tilla Mook stared straight at Kira.
"Me?" Kira asked.
She nodded sluggishly.
"Duel King, Fujiki Kira. He knew you'd come. And he said he's looking forward to it."
Kira narrowed his eyes.
So what kind of demon is it this time?
Well, the tall tree catches the wind. With the "Duel King" title on him, there are countless people worldwide itching to challenge him; finding a specific suspect is near impossible.
Just then, a staffer in a black suit entered the ward and bowed to both of them.
"What is it?" Yako asked.
"We've found something," the man in black said. "Our informant reports someone using Gladiator Beast monsters at an underground illegal duel arena."
Yako raised a brow.
"That brazen?"
Steals a deck and immediately goes to play black-market duels locally? He clearly doesn't care about their intel network.
"Deploy a team at once," Yako said gravely. "I want to see for myself."
Since the message explicitly called out Kira by name, he couldn't skip it; he joined Yako's team.
But at the address, what they saw surprised them.
The underground facility was lit, systems seemingly running. Yet inside, the large halls were empty.
They found no one—not a shadow—until they reached the lowest level: the underground duel arena.
A burly man with a skull pendant sat cross-legged at the center of the ring, bathed in a spotlight.
He slowly opened his eyes, a smile tugging at his lips, and let his gaze sweep over the entire party.
"At last. I was getting bored."
"Who are you?" Yako asked.
"Me? The name's Battle Beast—but that's not important," Battle Beast said. "I'm a nobody. But even nobodies can aspire to challenge the pinnacle."
He narrowed his eyes and set his sights on Kira.
"Duel King, Fujiki Kira."
All eyes turned to Kira.
Yako frowned and spoke to Kira. "You don't have to respond. We don't necessarily—"
"It's fine," Kira smiled slightly.
"If he's waiting here for us, even if he didn't steal the deck, he's likely connected. A duel suits me. If I win, he'll talk."
"That's true…"
Yako nodded.
He opened his mouth to warn Kira this person seemed strange—be careful. But then he thought: telling the Duel King to be careful? That's a bit much—and laughable. So he held his tongue.
"Let's do it."
Kira hopped onto the ring.
Battle Beast stood.
"Finally—the Duel King. A worthy opponent. I've been looking forward to this, heh…"
"Duel!" x2
"Then I'll take the first turn."
The indicator on Battle Beast's disk lit first—he had turn choice. Facing the King, he wouldn't get cocky; he took first without hesitation.
"My turn, draw!"
He placed a card from his hand onto the disk.
"First, I set a monster in face-down defense."
He slid out two more cards.
"Then I set two to the back row. Turn end!"
Kira watched calmly.
Set monster, set backrow—a very standard opener. You can't glean much from it.
Even Gladiator Beasts can open like this.
But his instincts said no.
At I.I., witnesses described the attacker as a well-dressed man in a white suit, elegant—and showy.
The guy before him was big and rough, a bit savage—didn't give off the same vibe.
Well, either way, he'd know once they fought. If it was really Gladiator Beasts, Kira actually looked forward to facing a former world champion deck.
"Then I'll start by activating this card from my hand…"
Kira swept his hand, and a spell card surfaced.
"Spell: Power Bond!"